Sinn Féin - On Your Side

Victims anger at RIR members seeking massive public purse payouts

Sinn Féin Assembly member John O'Dowd today said that many victims of the
UDR and RIR will be outraged at attempts by former part time members to take
the British government to court seeking even more taxpayers money as a pay
off for the Home Service Battalions being disbanded.

Mr O'Dowd said:

"The RIR Home Service Battalions like their processors the UDR and
B-Specials were little more than a unionist militia. The British government
themselves in recently released documents concede that the force was heavily
involved with loyalist death squads. Sinn Féin led the campaign to have this
discredited militia disbanded.

"Many victims of this force were already uneasy at the massive amount of
taxpayers money being given to former militia men as a pay off with the
decision to decommission the Home Service Battalions. These people will now
be outraged that not content with the massive payouts being offered these
individuals are now seeking to wrangle even more public money from the
British government.

"At a time when we hear unionist politicians rightly claim that funding for
victims organisations is under increasing pressure it is hard to see how
they can then support the campaign currently being waged for exorbitant
public money pay outs to former individual members of a combatant
organisation responsible for so much illegal activity over so many years."
ENDS